A Different Breed

Conner's 14 now.  I can't believe it!  Where's the time gone?  

 Boys are so funny.  They are an entirely different breed from the mostly girl family we're used to.  When you see the pictures you'll know what I mean...

 You've gotta be quick with this group, because they don't hold still for very long. You've got one shot.

Conner's gifts consisted mostly of money pulled in wads from the boy's pockets.  Some cash was cleverly concealed in a Barbie DVD case (no doubt stolen from the boy's unsuspecting sister who will be blamed later for losing it).  I started getting suspicious as I noticed the theme of mula that kept rolling in, and asked Conner, "What the heck?"  He said, "Yeah, I told everybody I'm saving for an XBox and they were all more than happy to contribute to the cause."  

????????!

They bowled 

and ate and ate and ate pizza

Conner missed his cousin Dillon who was in Hawaii- but Dillon brought a pineapple on his real birthday and it was all good.

The Laser Tag was really cool-

Brooke didn't seem to mind she was the only girl.  I'm not sure she even noticed.  She does great with her brother and his friends and is able to keep up no problemo.

Then they earned tickets from the arcade-

 And got garbage I'm sure will be gone in a few days (Yes, I am sure because I'm the garbage monitor).

Then it was home with the family and some cake.

Conner was ordained a Teacher the next day at church.  It was a great day.  Terrence and I are very proud of Conner and love, love, love him.

Gr- attitude

The mind is a funny thing...

It can wander or focus depending on its owner.  The mind can be strong and powerful, or weak and fragile also depending on it's owner.

The other night I was giving into a wandering mind.  Not always a bad thing, depending on where you wind up.  There were some things bothering me and I was allowing my mind to wander and stop in a place I didn't want it to be but allowed it to linger anyway.  I was pondering a wrong I felt had been done to me and trying to figure out why it hurt so much and what to do.  It wasn't long before I was feeling angry and wound up.  As I laid down for bed my mind was still in that place.  It was keeping me from sleeping and enjoying where I really was.  It was taking my peace.  

Peace is one of the greatest gifts we can have.  It comes from God, but must be earned.  As I longed for sleep I knew I couldn't do it in the place my mind had wandered to.  I began feeling like I didn't want to feel that way anymore, but how? I knew I couldn't do it on my own and I began to take control again and focus and ask for help.  A strong impression then came to my mind, "Be grateful".  Be grateful for the lessons you learn through your trials.  Be grateful for the wonderful family you have.  Be grateful for your good friends and those who love you.  Be grateful for those who challenge and help to shape you.  Within no time I felt the peace I longed for and was able to fall asleep.

Later that week as I was studying a lesson, it was teaching that we should know what our modern day prophets are saying to us today.  It's as important for us to know what they're teaching as it was for those of Noah's time to listen to him about entering the ark.  I had watched General Conference, but it had been awhile and the words were no longer etched in my mind.  I found the most recent talks all in one place by President Monson and decided to study them.  One of them was "The Divine Gift of Gratitude".  It was a great talk and gave me so much to ponder.  He went on to say,

A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

I am grateful that even when my mind is wandering to places of unrest, that when I think to pray and feel most undeserving, my Heavenly Father loves me enough to remember me and speak peace to me.  When I remember Him I feel peace, I feel loved, I feel whole.

Sam's First Dance

Now that Sam's 16 she's going to the Sweetheart's Dance at the High School.  Her room was decorated so cute and she's looking forward to it.

Great Song

It's hard to find songs lately that aren't jumbled up with techno computer stuff or corny lyrics put to rap hoping to make them seem cool.
"Just Breathe" by Pearl Jam.   I thought I'd pass it along.  

Enjoy.

There's No Place Like Home

I love to be out and about enjoying new adventures, but my favorite place is home.  

Top 10 reasons:

10) It's homebase- you know when you were a kid playing tag and you were running all over the place, but when you hit homebase you were safe.  That's what it's like.

9) It feels good.

8) It has all my stuff.

7)  I know I can get warm.

6) Everything I need is here (including the people I love the most).

5) It's where the best memories are made.

4) I can use it to create or just sit and do nothing with nobody watching... except the 5 kids and they like when I do nothing because then I'm not crackin' the whip!

3) It's a learning laboratory.

2) It's walls are filled with laughter, good times, sometimes heartache and tears, the smell of cookies (or a candle that smells like cookies), and the sound of "Mom... Mom... Mom...  I just want to know where you are." 

1) It's where dreams begin, plans are made, adventures are born, my babies were brought, and no matter where I go, where I always want to come back to.

Decorating Madness

I think making all those quilts put me into a sewing mood, plus Terrence has been traveling and I've gone into decorating mode.

It all started with a little fabric for curtains...

and a few new pillows for our bed...

When Terrence got home from his business trip the curtains were made.  The dishes weren't done.  The children weren't fed.  They looked AWFUL (the curtains, or maybe all of the above).  I loved the fabric and I made them right, but they hung like an old dish rag.

He wisked the fam off to Deer Valley for the long weekend, but secretly I wanted to stay home and remake those curtains.  I'm kind of obsessed when it comes to finishing.  

Deer Valley was beautiful and we had a great time.

 We went to church in Park City and ended up at a singles ward.  Yeah, we got some weird looks and I'm pretty sure Kinsey and Kacey were embarrassed to be there with their parents and little siblings.

When we got home it was MLK Day

 Terrence left for another business trip and I was back to the curtains.  I remade them, hung them, made a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond and Lowes for a few finishing touches and Viola!  Before and afters:

Before

After

Before

 After

Sam said these curtains look like a prom dress.  Now that she's 16 I think she has prom-on-the-mind.  So my house is dressed for prom and I love it!  It counter acts when I wander around in my not so fancy- not from Victoria's Secret warm and ugly bathrobe.

and a couple of other goodies-

 I love these bamboo place mats from Costco instead of a table cloth all the time.  

I got the quilt holder from Bed Bath and Beyond.  There's an empty spot.  I might have to make a quilt to go on the last wrung.  Is it really only Tuesday?  Terrence better get home quick or I might start knocking out walls.

New Find

Coolest camera bag EVER...

I found this little treasure on Etsy.com.  Only problem is it takes 2-3 weeks for a custom order (you can choose your own fabrics and stuff).  I am so excited to get mine!